Anna came alongside them, her face pulled into a frown. “That doesn’t ease my worries.”

“Or mine,” Jack said.

“We will remain vigilant,” Clay said. “It’s all we can do at this point. How’s Kid?”

“Just peachy.” Anna’s mouth curved into a smile. “The doctor left an hour ago. Kid now has seven beautiful women fluttering around him and offering to play nurse. Don’t expect him to recover anytime soon.”

“Just send me all the bills.”

“Oh, I will.” She glanced over his shoulder. “Where is your intrepid sidekick, the lovely Miss Greene?”

“I sent her home.” For her own good. He would have liked nothing more than to curl up in bed with her right now. Pleasure her until he forgot all about intruders, corrupt coppers, Duncan Greene and the other myriad worries that plagued him on a daily basis. Worse, this separation could last days. Weeks. If there were more random acts of violence within these walls, he couldn’t allow her to return.

He ground his teeth together. The idea of going weeks without seeing her hurt worse than when he’d been jumped by three toughs in a Bowery gin house at the age of fourteen. They’d stolen his take for the week, a meager forty dollars, after busting several of his ribs.

Still, he’d rather face that than any stretch of time without Florence.

“Is she planning to return now that the drama is over?” Anna asked, oblivious to Clay’s inner turmoil.

“No, not until the threat has passed.”

Jack snorted. “That may never happen, considering.”

“You can’t protect her all the time, Clay,” Anna said. “Besides, she’s a grown woman. She knows the risks of coming here.”

Clay didn’t care. He’d protect her to the best of his ability, and that meant sorting out this mess first. “Thank you but I know what I’m doing.”

“Does this mean you are going uptown to see her?”

Uptown? Had Anna lost her mind? A man like Clay was constantly on guard, always looking over his shoulder. Even disregarding his current problems with Bill and the Metropolitan Police, there were plenty of men who’d do him harm if given the chance. Clay would rather not give them the opportunity. “You know I prefer not to leave the club.”

Anna rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Which is absurd. Your legion of enemies cannot track you at night in a closed carriage.”

“Or even in the daylight,” Jack put in. “If you recall, you attended a Giants game at the Polo Grounds not long ago.”

“For a meeting. That was business.”

“Your relationship with Miss Greene is also business,” Anna said. “All those late-night tutoring sessions.”

“Indeed. In his bedroom,” Jack added and Anna chuckled.